Consistency in written and spoken communications is essential building and maintaining trust with our internal and external constituents. As with our brand voice and tone, how we tell our story is as important as the story itself.
Our editorial style is based upon the Associated Press Stylebook and the style and usage guidelines for the University of Colorado System, with the following refinements:
Referring to the university, one of the campuses, or a school or college
The following naming conventions for the university and its campuses should be used in all written and spoken communications, both internally and externally.
To refer to the consolidated university, both campuses:
Full name/first use: the University of Colorado Denver │ Anschutz Medical Campus.
Subsequent use: the university OR CU Denver|Anschutz. No spaces are needed on either side of the straight slash or pipe.
If you are preparing a grant application or other legally binding document, regardless of campus affiliation, use University of Colorado Denver on first use.
Do not use: UC Denver, UCD, CUD
To refer to the Anschutz Medical Campus:
Full name/first use: the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Subsequent use:
- CU Anschutz Medical Campus
- CU Anschutz (only when available space is an issue)
- Anschutz Medical Campus (use without a CU identifier only when comparing or contrasting with the Denver Campus)
School/college/unit first use: University of Colorado School of _________
School/college/unit short name or subsequent use: CU School of ____________
Do not use: AMC, Anschutz Medical Center, CU Medical Center, Fitzsimmons, Health Sciences Center, HSC
To refer to the Denver Campus:
Full name/first use: the University of Colorado Denver
Subsequent use:
- CU Denver
- Denver Campus (use without a CU identifier only when comparing or contrasting with the Anschutz Medical Campus)
School/college/unit first use: University of Colorado Denver School of _________
School/college/unit short name or subsequent use: CU Denver School of ______________
Do not use: UC Denver, UCD, CUD, Downtown Campus, Downtown Denver Campus, DC, DDC
Academic degrees
Do not include periods when abbreviating academic degrees: BA, BFA, MBA, PhD, MD, etc.
Use an apostrophe in bachelor’s degree, master’s, etc., but there is no apostrophe in bachelor of arts, bachelor of science or master of science.
Capitalize the degree when using the full formal name of the degree, but not when referring to a generic degree.
- Example: They all had master’s degrees in engineering. The university now offers a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting.
Academic titles
Capitalize and spell out formal titles such as president, provost, vice president, chancellor, dean and chairman when they precede a name. Lowercase elsewhere. Place longer titles after the name.
- Example: President Bruce Benson spoke on the issue. Brian Gerber, executive director of the Buechner Institute for Governance, said he agrees.
Board of Regents
Board of Regents is capitalized. On second reference, “regents” is lower case.
Regent is capitalized before the full name of a regent.
- Example: Regent Michael Carrigan
When using a regent’s full title, place the district after the name, separated by commas.
- Example: Regent Sue Sharkey, Fourth Congressional District, voted in favor of the measure.
Commonly Used Acronyms and Abbreviations
For internal use. If used externally, for second and subsequent references after indicating the acronym in parenthesis immediately following the first reference.
- Example: The University of Colorado School of Medicine (SOM) has increased the diversity of its student enrollment. The most recent SOM graduating class was 30 percent students of color.
| AAHC |
Association of Academic Health Centers |
|---|
| AHEC |
Auraria Higher Education Center OR Area Health Education Center |
|---|
| AVC |
Associate Vice Chancellor |
|---|
| BIG |
Buechner Institute for Governance |
|---|
| BUS |
Business School |
|---|
| CAM |
College of Arts and Media |
|---|
| CAP |
College of Architecture and Planning |
|---|
| CHC |
Children’s Hospital Colorado |
|---|
| CON |
College of Nursing |
|---|
| CLAS |
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
|---|
| ENG |
College of Engineering and Applied Science |
|---|
| JPMCC |
J.P. Morgan Center for Commodities |
|---|
| ITS |
Information Technology Services |
|---|
| LSC |
Lawrence Street Center, 1380 Lawrence Street |
|---|
| OAA |
Office of Academic Affairs |
|---|
| SEHD |
School of Education and Human Development |
|---|
| SDM |
School of Dental Medicine |
|---|
| SOM |
School of Medicine |
|---|
| SOP |
Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences |
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| SPA |
School of Public Affairs |
|---|
| UHC |
University of Colorado Hospital |
|---|
| UCCS |
University of Colorado at Colorado Springs |
|---|
| UHL |
University Honors and Leadership Program |
|---|
| UPI |
University Physicians, Inc. |
|---|
| VCAF |
Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance |
|---|
| VCASA |
Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs
|
|---|
Commonly Used Words
advisor (not adviser)
campuswide (no hyphen)
fundraising (no hyphen or space)
health care (two words, unless part of a proper noun)
semester hours (not credit hours)
universitywide (no hyphen)
Course Titles
Use initial caps, no quotation marks or italics.
School and College Names
College of Architecture and Planning
|
Architecture |
CAP |
|---|
| College of Arts & Media |
Arts & Media |
CAM |
|---|
| Business School |
Business |
BUS |
|---|
School of Dental Medicine
|
Dental |
SDM |
|---|
| School of Education & Human Development |
Education |
EDU |
|---|
| College of Engineering and Applied Science |
Engineering |
ENGR |
|---|
| Graduate School |
Grad School |
GRAD |
|---|
| College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
Liberal Arts |
CLAS |
|---|
| School of Medicine |
Medicine |
SOM |
|---|
| College of Nursing |
Nursing |
CON |
|---|
| Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences |
Pharmacy OR Skaggs |
SOP |
|---|
| School of Public Affairs |
Public Affairs |
SPA |
|---|
| Colorado School of Public Health |
Public Health |
SPH |
|---|
Web and Internet References
email (not hyphenated)
e-commerce, e-book, e-newsletter (all compound e-words, other than email, are hyphenated)
Internet (capitalized)
website, webcam, webcast, webmaster (single word, lowercase, no space or hyphen)
the Web (capitalized, short for the World Wide Web)